Best Asian Restaurants: Filipino

Northwest by Far East: the Insider’s Guide to Asian Food in Seattle

1/25/2011 at 4:00am
Published in the February 2011 issue of
Seattle Met

Kawali GrillOur region boasts tons of Filipinos—they’re the fourth-highest foreign-born population in the county—but oddly few Filipino restaurants. This joint on Rainier is our best, run by a chef whose food tastes authentic and full of love as Manilan home cooking. Pork dominates the Spanish-influenced menu: pork belly, pork hocks, pork chop. Plus a little oxtail. Vegans need not apply.

Who’s here A good deal of the time in this dingy diner, hardly anyone. But takeout is huge here. Don’t miss Pandan fried chicken—plump, juicy breast and thigh meat with the right crunch and a hint of sweetness from the coconut-ginger-soy marinade.Pssst The flat-screen TV is tuned permanently to reality TV on the Filipino Channel; you can decide if that’s a draw or the reason takeout’s so big.